BARRINGTON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a major milestone for both the forestry and climate change arenas,
EcoPlanet Bamboo has become the first company to receive carbon
validation through the VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) for its large
scale commercial bamboo plantations in Nicaragua.

EcoPlanet Bamboo converts degraded land in some of the poorest parts of
the world into commercially productive bamboo plantations, not only
sequestering and storing significant volumes of atmospheric carbon
dioxide, but providing growing timber markets with a sustainable
alternative source of fiber. In a country and category that have
traditionally not benefitted from significant carbon finance, this
achievement solidifies the social and environmental impacts that the
Company is making, both locally, regionally and internationally.

Validation by the Rainforest Alliance of an initial 816,000 tons of
carbon dioxide from the reforestation of 3,370 acres of highly degraded
land is a major policy achievement for a species that has until now
fallen in a grey area between agriculture and forestry. Despite its
contribution within forests globally, bamboo's ecological status as a
grass combined with its unique growth patterns have made the
quantification and understanding of its carbon sequestration benefits
challenging. As the first company to develop accurate scientific methods
for the measurement of such benefits, EcoPlanet Bamboo is driving
international policy for the inclusion of bamboo within the ongoing
forestry and land use debate.

“This VCS validation not only provides EcoPlanet Bamboo with the ability
to continue to expand internationally, but lays the benchmarks for the
development of an industry that is projected to reach $20 billion by
2015,” says Troy Wiseman, CEO of EcoPlanet Bamboo.

EcoPlanet Bamboo is a global leader in the sustainable production of
certified bamboo timber with operations in Central America and South
Africa. For more information visit our booth at ForestDay 6 during COP18
in Doha, Qatar, Dec 1st 2012, or email us at info@ecoplanetbamboo.com.